Up until earlier this year, I was living and working in London. I worked near Eagle House - a skyscraper on City Road whose construction had stalled, and after eyeing it off for some time, I figured it was a candidate for exploration. Having only been in London for a year or so, I wasn't able to find anybody keen to join me on a mission, so I decided to go solo; it seemed far too good to pass up. So late one November evening, I grabbed my camera and tripod and headed down.
Initially, I attempted climbing the 20-something floors through the core stairwell, but found all but one or two doors on the lower floors locked. Somewhat defeated, I decided to make do with the areas I could get to, and snapped off a shot from the fourth floor, looking towards Silicon Roundabout.
I had a bit more of a poke around, and realised that there was scaffolding up one side of the building with ladders in place - it only went about halfway up, but it was better than the fourth floor - so I hauled myself up and snapped off a few more shots.
Silicon Roundabout:
St. Paul's:
Inmarsat Building:
City Road, looking west (one of my favorites):
Getting ready to pack up and head home, I realised that the crane looked to be accessible - I've come this far, so I figured I'd give it a shot. I was much fitter 10 months ago than I am today - not sure if I'd make it anymore! So up I went... once I reached the operators cabin, and against my better judgement, I decided to go a little higher up the counter jib. It was cold, and much windier than expected, and my testicles had ascended so far inside of me I wasn't sure they'd come out again. But it was worth it!
Looking west across London:
Not the place I'd choose to build a nest (apologies for blurriness, between the cold and adrenaline, it was very hard to keep a steady hand!):
Looking down:
Looking north, towards Finsbury Park:
Looking south-east towards central London and Canary Wharf (my favorite shot!):
I've done a lot of urbexing in my home country, but by far, this was the highlight of my urbex career. Sadly, I didn't manage to do any other UK exploration; but I'm so glad I decided to do this!
Apologies for not posting the photos a little sooner; given I was only a temporary guest in the UK I didn't want to incriminate myself just in case the UKBA decided to cut my trip short
How did I do for a first report?
Initially, I attempted climbing the 20-something floors through the core stairwell, but found all but one or two doors on the lower floors locked. Somewhat defeated, I decided to make do with the areas I could get to, and snapped off a shot from the fourth floor, looking towards Silicon Roundabout.
I had a bit more of a poke around, and realised that there was scaffolding up one side of the building with ladders in place - it only went about halfway up, but it was better than the fourth floor - so I hauled myself up and snapped off a few more shots.
Silicon Roundabout:
St. Paul's:
Inmarsat Building:
City Road, looking west (one of my favorites):
Getting ready to pack up and head home, I realised that the crane looked to be accessible - I've come this far, so I figured I'd give it a shot. I was much fitter 10 months ago than I am today - not sure if I'd make it anymore! So up I went... once I reached the operators cabin, and against my better judgement, I decided to go a little higher up the counter jib. It was cold, and much windier than expected, and my testicles had ascended so far inside of me I wasn't sure they'd come out again. But it was worth it!
Looking west across London:
Not the place I'd choose to build a nest (apologies for blurriness, between the cold and adrenaline, it was very hard to keep a steady hand!):
Looking down:
Looking north, towards Finsbury Park:
Looking south-east towards central London and Canary Wharf (my favorite shot!):
I've done a lot of urbexing in my home country, but by far, this was the highlight of my urbex career. Sadly, I didn't manage to do any other UK exploration; but I'm so glad I decided to do this!
Apologies for not posting the photos a little sooner; given I was only a temporary guest in the UK I didn't want to incriminate myself just in case the UKBA decided to cut my trip short
How did I do for a first report?
